California's "How Many Legislators Does it Take to Change a Lightbulb Act"

[mandy]

A California lawmaker wants to make his state the first to ban incandescent lightbulbs as part of California's groundbreaking initiatives to reduce energy use and greenhouse gases blamed for global warming.

The "How Many Legislators Does it Take to Change a Lightbulb Act" would ban incandescent lightbulbs by 2012 in favor of energy-saving compact fluorescent lightbulbs.

"Incandescent lightbulbs were first developed almost 125 years ago, and since that time they have undergone no major modifications," California Assemblyman Lloyd Levine said Tuesday...

full article: http://money.cnn.com/2007/01/31/news/com...2007013108

[FiberGuy]

... Just another political hack wanting to take the choice out of consumers hands...


On a side note, eight years ago when we remodeled, we went to ALL fluorescent light bulbs, with the exception of some antique fixtures which either needed special bulbs or the larger fluorescent bulbs detracted from the fixture's "antique-ness".

What a disappointment that was.  Many of the bulbs only lasted a few months, and the vast majority of the rest didn't last near as long as their supposed advertised life span of several years. 

Considering they're ten times the cost of regular bulbs, it was not a good economic choice.

I should add... even if they worked as good or better than they're supposed to, I would still be against such legislation.

Cheers

[amy]

Many of the bulbs only lasted a few months, and the vast majority of the rest didn't last near as long as their supposed advertised life span of several years.

The 5 year life span only applies if you don't screw them into a light fixture.  If you actually use the bulbs the life span is 4 months-1 year.

About half of our lighting is fluorescent.  Switching that half to fluorescent did cut our electric usage 10%.

[mandy]

Australia outlaws incandescent light bulbs:

Federal Environment Minister Malcolm Turnbull this morning announced standard incandescent light bulbs would be phased out within three years in a bid to reduce energy consumption.

"We are introducing new energy efficiency standards and these old lights simply won't comply, they will be phased out and basically over a period of time they will no longer be for sale," Mr Turnbull said...

Details of the plan, including costs, have not been made available, but a source said it was expected the purchase cost of the new technology lights would come down as the volume of sales dramatically increased...

full article: http://www.news.com.au/story/0,23599,212...21,00.html

[mandy]

incandescent light bulbs may not be dead after all:

General Electric press release:

GE Announces Advancement in Incandescent Technology; New High-Efficiency Lamps Targeted for Market by 2010

GE Consumer & Industrial’s Lighting division, a world leader in the development of energy-efficient lighting products, today announced advancements to the light bulb invented by GE’s founder Thomas Edison that potentially will elevate the energy efficiency of this 125-year-old technology to levels comparable to compact fluorescent lamps (CFL), delivering significant environmental benefits. Over the next several years, these advancements will lead to the introduction of high-efficiency incandescent lamps that provide the same high light quality, brightness and color as current incandescent lamps while saving energy and decreasing greenhouse gas emissions...

full press release: http://home.businesswire.com/portal/site...23a0908a0c&epi_menuID=c791260db682611740b28e347a808a0c&epi_baseMenuID=384979e8cc48c441ef0130f5c6908a0c&ndmViewId=news_view&newsLang=en&div=946895406&newsId=20070223005120

[accentnepal]

GE: Press these guys and they get off their a$$. 125 years and now they get around to improving the light bulb.

But light is small potatoes in most homes next to the energy used by heat, air conditioning, and the other appliances.

Light bulb = 100 watts
Space heater = 5000 watts

Looks like they are fixing the wrong problem...

As usual.

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